Book marketing for first time authors

Guest Post by Authoright

There are plenty of ways to promote and market a book, but for first-time authors the process can be intimidating and unnerving. This is valid in some ways; it requires time, effort and dedication in order to market your latest masterpiece. However if you've spent countless hours writing your novel, it is worth spending some time marketing your book the right way.

With a well-researched marketing strategy, you'll soon reach a point where you don't have to market your novel any more; your legions of fans will do that for you. Here are just a few top tips for promoting and marketing your book.

Identify a target audience

This is perhaps one of the most vital steps in marketing your book. Find out who your book appeals to and get to know your audience. Ultimately, finding your niche will help you appeal to more of the people that will consider purchasing your book. Think about demographics such as age, sex, race, education, occupation, religion, generation, nationality, background, social class and more.

Create a hook

Your book could be an 80,000-word thriller but no-one will be interested in reading if readers can't find a blurb or a few attention-grabbing sentences to describe what your book is about. As a result, it is well-worth summarising the overarching plot into a few sentences or paragraphs to create the perfect pitch for your book.

Social media

The age of social media being called 'fledging' or 'a fad' is well and truly over. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are billion-dollar enterprises that, as an author, are screaming for your attention. Engaging and conversing with fans builds brand loyalty and there are thousands of fans-in-waiting to be captured via social media. Social media is useful for keeping people abreast of any news, events, special offers, links to purchase your book and other forms of content. In addition, you can also reply to followers and develop relationships which will deliver significant advantages in the long run.

Pricing

Getting the price right is another key factor in marketing your book. Price it too high and consumers will baulk; price it too low and consumers will think you have no confidence in the quality of your book. As a result, it's worth doing some research in order to find the 'sweet spot' for pricing. Around £3-£6 for a full-length ebook seems to work particularly well, while for print editions pricing just a tad lower than comparable hardback or paperbacks will help develop a fan base.

Hire a marketing specialist

If you simply don't have time for marketing and promotion, it might be worth handing marketing duties to a specialist book marketing firm. Book marketers can help writers raise their profile and promote their books to an audience that might not be reached through traditional methods. With the right contacts - other authors, publishers, agents, digital publishers and more - these marketing specialists can achieve the kind of exposure an author can only dream of. In addition, such exposure can help boost sales thus making the author money. What's not to like?

Written by Authoright (www.authoright.com). Authoright has been helping authors since 2005. We were set up by a writer and book marketing professional who wanted to help fellow writers raise their profiles and promote their books on a national scale.